Nearly 10,000 vehicles took part Wednesday afternoon in an unusual, large-scale “car protest” against the arrests of yeshiva students and Torah learners. After more than four hours, the organizing committee announced shortly after 8 p.m. that this phase of the demonstration was ending, and the slow-moving convoys began returning to the cities they came from.
The committee said it was stopping out of “deep responsibility” and consideration for travelers, families on the road, and anyone with urgent needs, including the sick, so as not to block transport routes. It said the turnout sent a “resounding message” that “there is no way without the Torah way,” and declared that the ultra-Orthodox public would no longer stay silent over what it called the trampling of Torah study and sanctions against yeshiva students.
The protest was marked by serious violence at several points. On Highway 1, a civilian driver was filmed allegedly pulling a gun toward ultra-Orthodox demonstrators. The protest organizers called it an “attempted murder” and demanded that police act immediately, though no shots were fired. In another incident, officials said Beitar Illit Deputy Mayor and faction head Gedaliah Eisenstein was violently attacked and choked after a person rammed his car during the convoy from Beitar Illit.
Earlier, a truck driver reportedly got out of his vehicle on the Ayalon Highway, ran toward one of the convoy cars coming from Bnei Brak, and was armed with a knife and sticks. He allegedly hit the vehicle and smashed at its windows while terrified passengers called police in real time. The organizing committee also said drivers reported police trying to undermine the protest with tickets, which it called a violation of free speech and the right to demonstrate. United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf praised the turnout and said he expected police to act firmly against those who attacked protesters.
